What event proved to be inspiring to schurz and his fellow students?

Let us start saying that it was when Schurz was a student at the University of Bonn, in early 1848,  when news reached that the French people had removed their king and had established a representative government.

It was in that precise moment that Schurz got inspired  and mmediately joined a group of revolutionaries determined to fight for civil liberties and national unity in Germany.

The answer to your question is the news that the French people had removed their king and had established a representative government.

could you use this to with a topic?

the key difference between a democracy and a republic lies in the limits placed on government by the law, which has implications for minority rights. both forms of government tend to use a representational system — i.e., citizens vote to elect politicians to represent their interests and form the government.